Coin-controlled lock



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 w. R. NECKERMAN COIN CONTROLLED LOCK Filed Feb. 1e,1922 24 Fl El'- Dec. 16, 1924.

1,519,159 w. R. NECKERMAN COIN CONTROLLED LOCK Filed Fel;L 16, 1922 2sheets-sheet 2 7 m. o A' .lhl- C ,W11 E 7 F m w a um z 2 4 5 ,E C@ Z .on6 nu! 4 o |\2 Q O H n...

Dec, 16, 1924.

mi vE/v To@ WITNESSES Patented Dec. 16, 1924.

UNITED STATES WILSON R. NEGKERMAN, OE' FITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

COIN-CONTROLLED LOCK.

Application led February 16, 1922.

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, VILsoN R. NEC-.KER- MAN, residing at Pittsburgh, inthe county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of theUnited States, have invented or discovered certain new and ,usefulImprovements in Coin-Controlled Locks, of,

which improvements the following is a specification.

My invention relates to coin-controlled locks, such as are now widelyused on the doors of public toilet rooms; it consists in improvementsupon the general structure described and claimed in the specication ofLette-rs Patent of the United States No. 1,341,433, granted me May 25,1920.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Fig. I is aview in vertical section through the casing, showing in elevation theparts contained within; Fig. II is a. view in horizontal section, on theplane indicated by the line II-II, Fig. I; Fig. III is a view invertical section through the lock, on a plane at right angles to that ofFig. I, and a plane in which the axis of the knob shafts lies. Fig. IIIshows the lock applied to a door. Fig. IV is a fragmentary view insection. on the plane indicated at IIT-IV, Fig. III.

In the use of locks of this sort as new commonly made, if the user,having inserted his coin and turned the knob, happens to release theknob again before swinging the door, the door is locked again and hiscoin is lost to him. The structure of the lock of my present inventionovercomes this disadvantage. In the improved lock which I am about todescribe, after the coin has been introduced and so long as the doorremains closed the knob may be turned and released and turned `again asoften as the user will, and with each turning the bolt will be slid tounlocking position and upon each release the bolt will return to lockingposition. It is only a shifting of the bolt independently of the outerknob (as occurs when the door is allowed to slam shut) which releases apreviously introduced coin and prepares the lock for a second operation.

The lock as shown in the drawings is contained in a casing whichconsists of a mounting plate 1 adapted to be attached to a door 2, and acover 3 attached to the mounting plate.

The locking mechanism consists primarily Serial No. 536,878.

of a locking bolt t adapted to slide between guides 5 to and fro betweenits two essential positions, sufficiently designated as locking positionand unlocking position. 4 is normally held in locking position by aspring 6; its outer end is bevelled in familiar manner as appears inFig. II. Tln` movement of the bolt is ordinarily easj.' and the tensionof the spring is light, these being features which conditions ofservici` dictate.

The inner and outer knobs 7 and 8 are carried on shanks or shafts 9 and10. Thes:` shafts are axially aligned, and conveniently the shaft 9 ofthe outer knob is a hollow shaft and the shaft 10 of the inner knob etending within turns freely within shaft 9. The shaft of the inner knobis accessible from the outside, that a key introduced through an openingin the outer knob and through its hollow shaft may be applied to theshaft of the inner knob to turn it. rhe outer end of the shaft 10 of theinner knob is formed with a seat for such a key, as indicated at 11.This feature fully explained in my earlier patent alluded. to.

The two knob shafts 9 and 10 carry integrally each a crank arm. Thecrank arm carried by the shaft of the outer knob is indicated at 12,that carried by the shaft of the inner knob, at 13. The latter, thecrank arm extending from the shaft of the inner knob, is adapted atproper' time to bear directly upon the bolt l and by the turning of theinner knob to shift the boli 4 from locking to unlocking position. Itwill be seen in Fig II that the arm 13 eX- tends through a recess formedin the inner vertical face of the bolt ll, and that the parts are soshaped and arranged that a movement of the arm 13 from right to left, asviewed in Fig. II, consequent on the turning of the knob shaft 10anti-clockwise, as viewed in Fig. I, will effect the right to leftshifting of locking bolt e against the tension of spring 6.

The crank arm 12 which extends from the shaft of the outer knob alsoengages bolt 4c to shift it, but the engagement is not immediate. A.slide 14 overlies the outer vertical face of bolt 4, and it is thisslide which crank arm 12 immediately engages, as clearly appears inFigs. I and III. The slide 14 is provided with an eX- tension l5 whichenters a recess formed in Bolt the outer vertical face of locking bolt4, and the parts are so shaped and arranged that shifting of slide 14from right to left, as viewed in Fig. II, consequent on the turning ofthe knob shaft 9 anti-clockwise, as viewed in Fig. l, will effectunlocking movement of bolt 4 against the tension of spring 6.

Two springs 16 and 17 anchored in mounting plate 1 engage severally thetwo crank arms 12and 13 and normally hold the crank arms at the limit ofclockwise turning, as viewed in Fig. l, and when both arms are in thisposition, the bolt 4 is freely responsive to the tension of spring 6 andsta-nds in the locking posit-ion shown in Figs. I and Il.

As best seen in Fig. Il, when the knobs and their connections are in theinactive positions last considered the extension 15 from slide 14 standsremote at a. slight spaceto the right from the surface of bolt 4 uponwhich in operation it bears in shifting the bolt to unlocking position.As appears in Fig. I, a spring-backed detent 18 resting at its tipupon-the upper surface of slide 14 stands ready by engagement with anotch formed in the slide to arrest after slight movement further rightto left movement of the slide.

Slide 14 is provided on its outer vertical face with a pluralityof pins19, 20, adapted to sustain between the face of the slide and anover-extending stationary guard plate a coin of suitable size introducedthrough the slot 21 formed in casing 3 above. Figs. land II show a coinC in position in slide 14. The edge of .detent 18 is wider than the edgeof slide 14, and is adapted to be engaged by the edge cfa coin when inplace as indicated at C inthe drawings.v

So long as no coin is introduced the effort to'turn the outer knob ofthe lock will be resisted by engagement of detent 18 with the notch inthe upper edge of slide 14 and this engagement is effect-ive after but aslight movement of slide 14 and before bolt 4 is shifted from 'lockingposition. When a coin has been introduced and has come tothe Ypositionshown in the drawings, turning of the outer knob brings the edge of thecoin into engagement with edge of detent18 and while slide 14 is movingthrough the interval noted above andshown in Fig.

11 the coin is lifting the detent from notchengaging position.Consequently, the turning of thef knob and the withdrawal of the lockingbolt arevnow-unresisted. The features thus far described are found, alllof them, in my Aearlier patent, already named.

The lock of that earlier patent is so con structed that the full rightto left shift of slide 14 which unlocks the door "effects automaticrelease yof the coin, Aso that when once the outer knob has been turnedand released it `can not again beturned until another coin has beenintroduced,-and that, in the course of normal operation, can not beaccomplished until' after the inner knob has in sequence been turned. Itfollows that a user of a toilet equipped with ,that lock, if afterturning he happens to let the outer knob slip before opening the door,iinds that be must call an attendant with a master key to help him outof difficulty.

In the lock now under explanation the right to left traverse of slide 14under the turning force from the outer knob does not automaticallyrelease the coin. To the contrary, the coin once introduced remains inplace, and is normally dislodged only by a subsequent .movement in thecycle of Operation; so that until that next movement transpires, theouter knob may be turned and released and turned again withouthindrance.

The coin is released from its position in slide 14 on the shifting oflocking bolt 4 from locking tounlocking position while slide 14 standsin the inactive position shown in Figs. I and I1, and it is released inno other manner. One of the coinsustaining pins which extend from theface of slide 14, the pin designated inthe drawings as 20, isretractible from its normal position, andmeans are provided whereby thesliding of bolt 4 to lunlocking position while the slide 14 remains inits norma-l right-hand position, as shown in Fig. II, effects suchretraction. These means are found in -a strap spring 22 anchored inslide 14, and carrying at its outer lend the pinV 'O, and in a pin '23borne in bolt 4 and extending vertically across the recess formed in itsouter vertical face. The strap spring and the pin are so shaped andarranged that so longv as bolt 4 and slide 14 move in unison there is nointeraction between these parts; but if, while slide 14 remains in itsnormal inactive position (that shown in Fig. II), bolt 4 be shifted fromlocking to unlocking position (from right to left, Fig. Il), pin 23,bearing upon the extended and obliquely disposed lengthof spring 22,will deflect itand effect withdrawal of pin 20.

.When pin 20 is withdrawn a coin resting upon ypins 19 and 20, as shownin Fig. I will be released and will fall to its ultimate receptacle inthe bottoni of the casing. Pin 2O will be restored to its extended andcoinsustaining position as soon as bolt 4 returns to its normal positionrelativeto slide 14.

Operation may be traced briefly. The lock'is shown in the figures in itsvnormal positionV-the position in which the user approaches it. 1t maybe understood that the extended locking bolt 4 is then hold- .ing thedoor which carries it locked. The

user drops the proper coin through slot 21 and it descends and takes theposition indicated at C. IVhen this has been done the user may turn theouter knob, unlocking the door, and he may then enter through the doorinto the toilet room or whatever place it may be, to which the dooropens. If after turning the outer knob the user, not having yet openedthe door, happens to release the knob .from his grasp both bolt et andknob 7 will return to initial position, but coin C will still remain inplace in slide 111-, and the knob may be turned again, just as before.The user opens the door, releases his hold on knob 7, and passes throughthe door, closing the door or allowing the door to close behind him.Immediately he releases the knob, the parts will resume the positionsshown. lVhen thereafter the door closes the bolt l will by engagement ofits beveled end with the plate in the door jamb slide independently7 ofthe slide 14 from extended to retracted or unlocking position, and then,as soon as the door is fully closed it will spring out again to lockingposition. This independent sliding of the bolt will release the coil.Thereupon the outer knob ceases to be effective to unlock the door. Vhenthe occupant of the room goes out again he turns the inner knob, unlocksthe door, opens it and passes out. The door shuts again (ordinarilyunder spring tension) and the lock is then in its initial positionagain.

Accessory apparatus may be briefiy indicated. A shutter 24 for slot 21closes the slot the first time the outer knob is turned and remainsclosed until the inner knob is turned. Closing movei'nent is effectedfrom slide 14 through lever 25; opening movement by direct bearing of'crank arm 13 upon the body of the slide.

Operation of the tally is effected through the swinging of a beam 26(cf. Figs. III and IV), first in one direction, then in the other. It isswung anti-clockwise (Fig. IV), to drive the tally, by the initialturning of the outer knob, through the crank arm 27 borne integrally byshaft 9; it is swung clockwise, to restore it to initial position by thesubsequent turning of the inner knob, through the crank arm 28 borneintegrally by shaft 10.

I claim as my invention:

In a coin-controlled lock the combination of a bolt movable betweenlocking and unlocking positions, a slide movable in parallelism withsaid bolt, interconnection between. the two members whereby the bolt maybe moved from locking position to unlocking position in response to movement of the slide or may be so moved while the slide remains stationary,a latch normally restraining the slide from boltunlocking movement, acoin-sustaining pin borne by said slide and retractible and eX-tensible, means borne by said bolt for retracting said pin, a rotatableknob, and operative connection between knob and slide, the said partsbeing so coordinated that when a coin rests on said coin-sustaining pinknob turning will (througl'i the coin) effect removal of said latch andconsequent bolt shifting movement of the slide, while shifting of thebolt independently of the slide will effect retraction of saidcoinsustaining pin, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

`WILSON R. NECKERMAN. Titnesses BAYARD H. CHRISTY. FRANCIS J. ToMAssoN.

